Micro-transactions in games, especially the kind EA tend to add to titles that can help you skip over portions of a game, or level you up too quickly and make you uber powerful, are some of the most decried aspects of modern gaming. Nobody likes that stuff right? So surely nobody pays for the dubious privilege of using it?
You might think that, but if nobody was paying for it EA wouldn't keep doing it. Indeed the reason it keeps it up is because it's a huge business. In 2015, EA made $1.3 billion in additional micro-transaction DLC.
Why on Earth would it ever stop selling that stuff?
Worst still, these micro-transactions are not cosmetic upgrades like the ones found in League of Legends or other free to play titles. These are micro-transactions in games which have a full price tag. So players are spending $50 on a game like FIFA, only to go and pay several tens of dollars more on cosmetic upgrades, DLC, season passes and more.
In-fact FIFA and other associated sports games are so popular, EA makes more than half of its micro-transaction money from those titles alone. $650 million.
A big chunk of that comes from people buying cards and booster packs for their "ultimate" team, which doesn't even contribute to the main portion of the game.
It's madness, but of course we could say the same thing for lives on Candy Crush or additional level on uninspired games like Angry Birds, but people have been doing that for years, so it shouldn't come as much of a surprise.
